


Game Night: TABARZIN 20,000: ASTRAL DERELICT - Local Match

by Kiiratam



Series: Game Nights at Beacon Academy & Beyond [15]
Category: RWBY, Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Background-ish relationships, By Way of Left 4 Dead, Canon Compliant, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Space Hulk, good dad tai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22732882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: Game paused.+ MISSION GOAL - RETURN TO EXTRACTION POINT WITH RECOVERED AURA-DUST INFUSION CODEX. ++ ASTRAL KNIGHTS DEPLOYED +StrawberrySlugger(Gunnery Sergeant, Marine Order)FancyFeet(Battle Brother, Argent Order)+ RETURN TO THE FRAY? +[YES]        [HECK YES]        [NOT YET](Takes place during Volume 4, between Chapters 4 and 9.  ((My BMBLB fic index))
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Series: Game Nights at Beacon Academy & Beyond [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1482323
Comments: 8
Kudos: 40





	Game Night: TABARZIN 20,000: ASTRAL DERELICT - Local Match

**Author's Note:**

> [Recommended listening.](https://youtu.be/i1X1cZCKhGs)

"Yang, on your six!" That was all Tai could do for his daughter, because his hands were full.

  
Literally, because he had them wrapped around the scything arms of the green carapaced vorpalwight, straining to keep them from his precious, precious meat points.

  
Firing her shotgun behind her, without even bothering to look, Yang blew the charging vorpalwight's head clean off. "Dad, activate your gauntlets. Shoulder button? Reloading." She started casually sliding more shells into her gun, watching the grapple.

  
Tai headbutted the alien's spiky face.

  
"Other shoulder button."

  
Coruscating arcs of energy burst from Tai's gauntlets, spiderwebbing the vorpalwight's carapace and superheating its blood until it popped like an ichorous balloon.

  
Yang aimed her shotgun at him and fired four times, close enough that Tai held his breath. Awkward in his armor, he slowly pivoted in place. Tried not to stare at the three very dead aliens, who between them had one head and one-and-a-half torso left. " _How_ much time have you spent playing this game?"

  
"Less than you're thinking. Whoever did the shotguns knew what they were doing. It's not the same as going to the range, but there's a lot of mental overlap."

  
The lights in the metal corridors started strobing red, and a klaxon ground itself to screeching life.

  
"Whoops, that's the sudden death timer, dad. We've got to get back to the hanger." Yang broke into a lope, moving smoothly in her heavy breaching armor.

  
"Or?" Tai tried to keep up, but somehow found himself always drifting off to the left, and had to keep cutting back to the right, like a ship trying to sail into the wind.

  
His daughter laughed. Which, after the winter they'd had, was a glorious spring breeze. "Or they spawn Vorpagon Rexes until we die."

  
"Those are the big ones, right? "

  
"Dad, I _know_ you played **TABARZIN 20,000**."

  
"Yeah, a decade ago. They've added a few things since then. Vorpalwights used to be called Armor-Cleavers. And they weren't a whole faction." A swarm of tiny vorpalites - Tai thought those were vorpalmites? - frothed out of the ventilation duct, and Tai was trying to remember which button controlled his grenades -

  
\- When Yang just blasted a few gouts of fire into them, making the swarm dissipate.

  
"Wait, how do you have incendiary shells?"

  
"Um, level twenty? Everyone gets them for their 'cleanse with sacred fire' feature. Which is _some_ kind of incendiary. I think Argent Order Knights like you get flamethrower gauntlets? Or pyrokinesis, if you go Semblamancer at level ten. "

  
Tai didn't even know where to start with that. Or if he could really do anything about the other swarms, which his daughter was casually murdering in a hail of fire. So he tried to follow up on one of his earlier questions, plodding in Yang's wake, stomping on the rare wriggling survivor. "So what level are you?"

  
"I'm at the level cap."

  
"Which is? "

  
"The maximum level you can hit. Reloading."

  
Tai rolled his eyes. He knew when his daughter was playing dumb. "The _number_ , Yang."

  
" ...69. That's with both expansions, though, and they're really generous with the XP boosts if you play in a group, and let randos in, help newbies, and-"

  
"And I'm what, level 1?"

  
"I mean, with how well we've been doing, you might make 3 or 4 if we both make it to the extraction point. We could do another map after that, if you want." Yang grabbed one of the axes from her belt and hurled it through a mesh grille in the ceiling. There was a screech of agonizing pain, and ichor started leaking through the grille.

  
"How did you know there was something in there?"

  
"There's _always_ something in there."

  
On one hand, Tai was just thrilled to finally see his daughter relaxing. Having fun again. Showing off, even.

  
On the other hand - he dropped his gaze from the screen to Yang's new arm - Tai didn't want to let her vanish into the past, get so caught up in her old reflexes and old memories that she stopped learning, stopped trying to improve. _And_ he wanted to play something where he wasn't mostly a hapless tag-along. ...Though it was helping him understand _exactly_ how Yang had been feeling during their sparring. And if he could actually figure out the controls, it seemed like it could be a lot of fun. A way to unwind before bed.

  
An undulating roar echoed through the speakers, making Zwei - sleeping between them in the couch - quirk his ears, but not wake up. He was probably used to it.

  
"Time to run, dad! Vorpagon inbound. You remember which one's the run button, right?"

  
"Uhh... "

* * *

  
His scroll hummed at him, and Tai groggily scrabbled for it. Zwei gave him a deeply offended look, and went back to sleep, curled up in the exact middle of the bed. Ruby had let Zwei sleep in her bed _once_ , and suddenly Zwei knew no laws. 

  
Unrolling his scroll, Tai clicked on his new message. Who would be trying to reach him this late?

> <From - **The TABARZIN 20,000: ASTRAL DERELICT Team**
> 
>   
>  **NOTICE** \- Global servers are down indefinitely, as is the Global Leaderboard. However, Kingdom Leaderboards will be updated as often as possible. Remember, progress is recorded on your scroll, so if you travel, you can continue to play your current character. The third expansion, **In the Barrows of the Iron Ghosts** , is in final development, and we do not anticipate delays in its release at this time. 
> 
> Congratulations on reaching level 5, [ **FancyFeet** ]! We hope you're enjoying your demo of **TABARZIN 20,000: ASTRAL DERELICT** , and want to remind you that if you purchase the full version, you will retain all of your current progress, and be able to reach higher levels, unlocking exciting new abilities, weapons, and battlezones. Continue the fight against the Vorpalite hordes, and test your might against the Grimm, Mantellians, Siriusians, Deldauphin, and more!
> 
> Remember to add [ **StrawberrySlugger** ] to your friends list! Even Astral Knights need allies! You may also know [ **BlackCat13** ], [ **MewMew** ], [ **LotusAxeaxein** ], [ **B4rr3ls0fBl00d** ], and [ **LayBrotherOfButtkicking** ].>

Tai recognized Yang's handle from the game, and clicked on her name. His scroll pulled up her profile, and he scanned through it after adding her. Still half-asleep, but half-awake was enough to be curious. Most of the information was either obvious ( **Favorite Weapon** : Boarding Shotgun), repeating what Yang had told him ( **Level** : 69), or meaningless to him (what even was a gninja, and why did the game keep track of gninja goals?) But some of it was... not painful, exactly, just a look into the past. At a different Yang. 

  
The **Other Notes** section read: 'Always happy to show new players the ropes, campaign or versus, whenever I'm on! No knight left behind! Msg me! ♥♥♥ PS. Devs: add bikes!!!' And other parts... under **Known Associates** , it listed all of the users from the message, plus many more. But one of them, BlackCat13, had a little icon next to their name, crossed axes over a heart. Almost the Beacon Academy symbol. Tai tapped it, and it pulled up a little tooltip: ' **Axe Spouse** : These players have won 25+ campaigns together, and mutually earned the **Back 4 U** achievement.'

  
Another tap, and Tai learned **Back 4 U** was given for leaving the extraction zone to revive a downed ally. And another tap, and Tai was looking at BlackCat13's profile. Which was very helpful in telling him how they played Astral Derelict (one of the gearhead orders, with no real weapon preference), but annoyingly slim on other information. Yang was in multiple groups: _BEACON-FPS-GODS, Sl*tsOfSignal_ (which just contained all of her Signal friends, and Tai knew what _they_ were like, but the name was still a surprise), _PatchPlayers_... but BlackCat13 wasn't in a single one. And they'd left a bunch of other fields blank.

  
About the only one with actual text in it was **Other Notes** , which just said: 'Hiding in freezer. Don't tell Zwei.'

  
Tai stared at his dog.

  
BlackCat13. Who would Yang spend lots of time playing video games with? The black-haired girl who had been her combat partner, and was hiding a pair of Faunus ears under her bow.

  
...In her bow? Tai wasn't exactly sure how it worked. Well enough to fool him, and probably most everyone else at Beacon. Tai only knew because Ruby had mentioned it by accident. Ruby had also mentioned one-sided games of hide-and-seek, between Zwei and-

  
Blake. The girl who'd managed to hurt Yang at least as much as Adam Taurus.

  
Yang's Raven.

  
There were times when Tai, more than he ever really had, understood his eldest daughter. He just wished he could _do_ something with their shared pain. More than the promise of it fading with time. Fading, but never going away.

  
Summer would have known what to do, how to say it. They could have sat down together, and she could have helped him put words to everything. Light a path for their feelings, help them connect, and heal.

  
Tai reached out and started petting Zwei. He didn't wake up, just accepted it as his due, whuffling quietly.

  
She hadn't been able to help with Raven, in the end. Neither had Qrow, but he'd never been able to persuade his sister of much. Raven made up her own mind.

  
But for all that Blake seemed to be Yang's Raven, there was more to it. 

  
Not just Yang's arm - and Tai still didn't have a good grasp on how that added in. He'd been thinking of it as 'what if my Aura was deactivated?', because that idea filled him with horror. Losing a limb would be bad - but he'd never not had all of his. But not having an Aura - plenty of the youngest students at Signal hadn't had theirs activated yet. And he'd seen the fear in the faces of people he'd saved. A Beowolf wasn't scary - if you had an active Aura, and the training to deal with it. But with no Aura, Grimm that Tai was confident he could fight blindfolded were creatures of deep terror.

  
Tai had sat down with Ruby one night - before she'd left - and had asked about Adam Taurus. He had access to various reports - the SDC bounty on him and all White Fang leaders practically came with a manual - but Tai had wanted to know more about the man who had hurt his daughter. And Ruby hadn't been able to tell him much - she hadn't even seen him - but she did know that he had been Blake's mentor. From Qrow, and Peter, and Bartholomew, he'd managed to piece together some details. Multiple students and at least one instructor, killed in the dining hall - where Yang's arm and the other half of Ember Celica had been found - all with wounds from the same kind of sword. Blake, getting treated for a stab wound of the same kind, after dragging Yang to safety.

  
If Tai had even the first idea where to start looking - if Qrow was still here - if if if. Yang was back on her feet. And she needed to brush the cobwebs off, pick up new tricks - and not have her father run off on a quest for vengeance. Taurus would keep. By the end of the school year, Yang should be at least back where she had been, with her new arm and its tricks worked into her style. And Qrow might have made contact again. Between the three of them, Tai was confident that they could put Taurus down for good. Maybe publicly putting the bounty into the Beacon rebuilding efforts would shame the SDC into contributing more. 

  
After that, Tai wanted to find Ruby - but he couldn't do that either, with Yang still hurting and training. And his students, too. As much as Tai longed for the freedom of STRQ's first couple of years after Beacon - he had responsibilities now. And, as Bartholomew liked to go on about, training the next generation was a better use of time than taking bounties. They had to not just replace their generation, but try to grow it. More Huntmen and Huntresses, pushing the Grimm more and more...

  
It was a very Bartholomew way of looking at things. The modern world, through a historical lens. Well aware that history was on-going, and wanting to improve matters not just for now, but the future. From Yang and Ruby's generation all the way to the twentieth millennium. Though, considering the backstory Tai remembered from his books, there had been some _serious_ mis-steps over the millennia. Hopefully the real future-history would be better. It would definitely have fewer puns.

  
Zwei flopped over, eyes still closed, presenting his belly. Able to recognize a request _that_ obvious, Tai started petting his dog's belly.

  
He wasn't going to leave his daughter. Not even if there had been a large sign marked 'Adam Taurus is here', next to a full barrel of free shotguns. ...Actually, in those _specific_ circumstances, Yang would probably drag _him_ along.

  
Unrequested, a memory spooled itself up in the darkness. Him, on the couch, opening his eyes after he'd fallen asleep, too exhausted by teaching and making dinner to even put Ruby to bed. 

  
Bolting upright, suddenly in a panic, looking all around for his not-quite infant daughter - and Yang's voice, coming in the kitchen, telling him that she'd tucked her sister in, and read her a story, and kissed her good-night. Not angry, just telling him in a very matter-of-fact tone. Tai had peeked into the kitchen, and seen Yang, standing on a chair, washing dishes with her tiny hands.

  
And that had been enough to bring him to the edge of tears - like it was now, despite the years - and pick up a towel and ask if she wanted help drying. Yang had just nodded, still very serious. When they'd finished, he'd put her to bed, gave her a kiss, and told his eldest daughter that he loved her.

  
Tai wished that had been the only time Yang had held everything together. She'd grown up too fast - and if it wasn't all Tai's fault, it was still his responsibilities that she was carrying.

  
Yang deserved everything he could do to help. More. Every trick he knew, every drop of knowledge he had. All to get her back up to speed, Tai throwing all of his weight into hurling his daughter forward. Into the teeth of everything lurking out there. Not because he was afraid, or guilty. But because he loved his daughter, and trusted her, and true to her Semblance, she was going to take all the hate the world threw into her, and use it to make herself better. 

  
Smiling, Tai snuggled back into his blankets. Dawn was coming, and all the monsters of the world were going to have a _very bad time_ when she arrived.

  
The fictional ones included. Tai _had_ enjoyed their game, and he was pretty sure he knew what all the buttons did now. Maybe Yang would find the parallels between her teaching and his entertaining. And maybe he could use the example of the game to find new ways to talk about techniques.

  
Zwei's faint snoring lulled him back to sleep.


End file.
